Iconographie Royale de France

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All images from the fabulous Joconde database put together
by the French Ministry of Culture.

Rois de France
From Jean II (d. 1364) to Louis-Philippe I (d. 1850), this gallery
illustrates the changing styles in portraits of sovereigns. The bust
portraits of the 14th and 15th c., no different than those of any private
citizens, are followed by full-length but unpretentious portraits in the
16th c. With the 17th century the Baroque portrait introduces contrast
between movement (billowing draperies) and permanence (the upright monarch),
a sense of drama and power, and an overwhelming abundance of regal symbols
(crown, scepter, mantle, throne, order collars). The high point of this style
is Mingard's famous portrait of Louis XIV, whose model was followed literally
until Charles X. Only the "bourgeois king" Louis-Philippe departed from the
genre, posing in military but contemporary costume, his hand on the Charter.

Princes de France
This collection brings together portraits of younger sons (or Dauphins who
never reigned) as well as daughters.

Princes d'Orléans
The house of Orléans founded by Louis XIV's brother is the only branch
of the royal family that survives in France; it briefly came to the throne in
1830. This collection documents the successive generations of ducs d'Orléans, down to the collection of Winterhalter portraits of Louis-Philippe's children.